Characterization of the Complete Mitogenomes of Four Dacinae Species (Diptera: Tephritidae) with Phylogenetic Analysis

To enhance our understanding of the phylogenetics and evolutionary processes within Dacinae, we sequenced and analyzed four complete mitogenomes for the first time, specifically <i>Acroceratitis separata</i>, <i>Acrotaeniostola quadrivittata</i>, <i>Gastrozona parviseta</i>, and <i>Paragastrozona vulgaris</i>, which represent Gastrozonini species. Our results indicated that these four mitogenomes, including <i>A. separata</i>, <i>A. quadrivittata</i>, <i>G. parviseta</i>, and <i>P. vulgaris</i>, comprised 37 mitochondrial genes and an A+T-control region, with a total length of 16,603 bp, 16,112 bp, 16,691 bp, and 16,594 bp, revealing a notably high AT content reaching 77.4%, 78.4%, 75.1%, and 75.1%, respectively. Our phylogenetic analyses using Bayesian inference and Maximum Likelihood methods under site-homogeneous models consistently demonstrated their superiority over the site-heterogeneous mixture model CAT + GTR, given the currently accepted phylogenetic framework. Apart from a few species demonstrating unstable placements, the inferred phylogenetic relationships among the three tribes were strongly supported as monophyletic groups, with the topology represented as ((Ceratitidini + Gastrozonini) + Dacini), and most branches displaying moderate-to-high support values, of which four newly sequenced mitogenomes and <i>A. dissimilis</i> robustly formed a single clade representing Gastrozonini. This study substantially augments the existing mitogenome data, thereby providing more profound insight into the evolutionary history and higher-level phylogenetic structure within the Dacinae.